When Canadian Chips obtained his Delta 8” table saw and 4”jointer combination, I was very interestedbecause of a conversation I had with a model airplane builder. He put a thin kerf skil saw blade on a 10” table saw and used it to cut small precision wood parts for making models. This idea would work evenbetter on an 8” saw if I only wanted to cut small items. I printed out PM-1722 from Old Woodworkingmachines and discovered this little saws arbors and parts were made with as much precision as the bigUnisaw. I got lucky and bought one on Craigslist a few days later for only $30. Canadian Chips got hisentire unit in better shape for only $20, but I can not complain.

The saw did run, but the noise indicated that the bearings in both the saw and motor were bad, I torethe saw and motor down enough to get the bearing numbers and buy new bearings. The saw had theoriginal New Departure 87503 bearings which had an offset inner race and could be ordered for between$30 to $40 apiece. They measure the same 40mm OD X 17mmID X 12mmW race as the new 62032bearing. To take care of the offset inner race difference, I bought a 14 guage 5/8” machine bushing and turned the ID to 17mm and placed it beside the spacer between the inner races in the saw arborand put the arbor back together in the reverse order of taking it apart. To set the preload on the arbor I tightened up the inside spanner nut the same way you set the preload on front wheel bearingswhen repacking them. Tighten the nut until you have no side play on the bearings and the bearingsare starting to drag slightly. This trick worked on the Unisaw arbors back when they started replacing the replacement bearings with a cartridge pack that cost way more than the bearings did, and shouldstill work today. If you want a picture of this set up your can look at this publication http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1141/3643.pdf . Page 5 shows it.

The electric motor also used the 62032 bearings, but when I tore it all the way down the armature shaft was worn so bad that the bearing tilted back and forth, if the wear had not been so bad I mighthave tried some Loctite stud and bearing mount to tighten it up, but on a 3450 rpm motor, just a slight out of roundness would have wore the bearings out in short order. Having a 1 HP motor of the same rpm that I had acquired a while back I was not too worried. It just needed an adapter plated tomount it on the saws mounting plate. This would be easier than making an adapter plate to bolt a 57 Oldsmobile J2 tri-carb motor up to a 33 Ford sedan’s transmission.

The first picture shows the flat head socket head capscrews countersunk into the plate and holding one side of the adapter plated to motor, the second picture shows the special bolts made from thehead of 3/8” flat head sleeve anchor heads with 5/16” socket head set screws threaded in and held in place with Loctite stud and bearing mount. These were countersunk into the back of theplate and will bolt the plate to the saw motor mount, the allen wrench opening in the set screw will allow me to tighten and loosen the nut holding the plate to the mount. Nothing worse than not being able to take something apart once you put it together. Regular bolts through the othertwo holes in the plate bolt the adapter and motor to the saw mount.

This gets the saw almost ready to run, but I decided to replace the old plywood on the stand andset the saw lengthways on the stand at the same time, as well as add a dust collection port underthe saw. I removed the front plate on the stand and replaced it with a couple of pieces of tubing and added a plywood shelf for storage. I then installed and wired a paddle switch on the right sideof the stand to make the saw safer to operate.

The metal on this stand was almost 1/16” of an inch thick, so I grabbed my metal cutting skil sawand cut an opening in the back so I could access the dust collection port.

The old plate covering the saw blade had been ridden hard and put away wet, so I made a zeroclearance plate from an old plastic cutting board I had, and made two spares.

As you can see from this picture, there are four tabs sticking out of the opening that were used tolevel the old table insert. I drilled 4 holes in the plastic, and only ran the tap part way through theholes, the 5/6” X 18TPI X 3/8” long socket set screws thread down through the holes and thepartially tapped holes as a nylock to hold them firmly in place. You can access them from thetop and level the plate with ease. On the back of the saw opening there was another lip sticking out, so I cut a piece of oak with a slot to hook under this lip when inserting the plate into the saw.This holds the plate securely in place when I crank the Freud Diablo thin kerf blade up through theplate as shown .

I will be making one more zero clearance plate with a riving knife secured into it later. The miter gagethat came with the saw was held to the bar with a wierd flat head shoulder bolt that was loose becauseof wear, and the fact that the 8-32 thread on the end of the bolt had been twisted off in the gage. Igot lucky and my left hand drill bit spun the broken part out with no trouble, I then drilled and counter-sunk the bar for a flat head socket head capscrew, and drilled and threaded the gage for the 1/4-20thread. This tightened up the miter guage, and a socket set screw in the back of the guage will keepit from coming loose. The mounting bars for the fence had become bent and beat up over the years,so I cut them off just beyond the table.

The manual for this saw shows a splitter attachment and guards, while I doubt these parts are stillavailable, I might try to make them myself. This saw was designed to be used with both dado bladesand molding cutter heads. I just have to make some bowl segment sleds for this saw and it will become my specialized bowl saw. I am going to have to improve the dust collection, and add somecasters, but I think this saw was well worth my $30 and the work I put into it. If nothing else, itdid keep me off the street corners and out of trouble for a while.

I know this saw does not look nice and shiny and new, but it suits both me and my shop, slightlyold and worn, but still working and having fun. Here is a shot of my other hobby, bird watching.

These mallards and wood ducks seem to think our lawn is their new home, along with pigeons, foolhens and red winged blackbirds.

5 comments so far

great refurb work on that one Gus nice little table for smaller work though you proppebly shuold be more carefullto focuse when using it …...... it is as dangerous as a big tablsaw maybee more since people seems to relax too much using smaller tools

looking forward to see some small boxes a la Martyns (brixboxmaker) ... :-)

I’ve got one of these saws and I absolutely love the way it runs and the precision that I get out if it. It’s honestly more precise than my skills currently allow and it’s a lot of fun to run this little saw. My Dad gets jealous as I did a complete refurb on mine and it’s way nicer than the old rockwell that I grew up with him using.

The homecraft is a sweet saw, ready to go another 60 years. Thanks for the rescue effort. IIRC, I think the saw came with a 1725 rpm motor either 1/2 or 2/4 hp, and the pulley spun the blade at 3450. I could be wrong.

I relied on one of those lil’ wonders back in the day ! Glad to see the revival in interest . You’ve done well with this one. I have an old craftsman 3450 rpm 1 hp motor I took in as part of a trade…it appears in decent shape and may well be off one of these or it’s offspring…anyone nearby here who is interested, let me know.

-- The pig caught under the fence is always the one doing all the squealing !

Just bought one…needs arbor work, hopefully just bearings, but I wanted a smaller saw for precise dedicated cut-off work via a sled. Are there any arbor replacements out there if it requires that? I am working with my local tool repair shop now, but may need some help if they do not come through.